Employee retention
Employee retention is essential to a successful business. When I reflect on my time as a sales manager, I often think of the employees who got away. I wonder why some people stayed with the company, and others left. More specifically, I ponder why the people I wanted to stay left.
As a manager, I always felt responsible for those in my charge and strived to know them well. Inevitably, however, there were surprises. For example, there was a person I worked well with who was effective at growing the business. I was confident in his ability to make wise decisions. I thought he could come to me with anything, both personally and professionally. He did, or at least I thought he did until one day he told me that he felt our relationship had become distant. Then he accepted a job with a competitor that offered him a substantial increase to move on.
Time to reflect
Take the time to reflect on how to best keep your workforce stable. There are many good books that can help clarify the many “whys” of business. I recently finished reading “First, Break All the Rules” by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. It helped me to better understand why people leave a job.
Measuring Stick for Managers
Buckingham and Coffman developed the following questions and called them their Measuring Stick for Managers. This list helps managers understand what their reports consider when evaluating how long they will stay working for their current employer.
Here are six powerful questions to ask when considering whether to stay with your job:
- Do I know what is expected of me at work?
- Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
- Do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
- In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?
- Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
- Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
Avoid the loss
The rep who left my company in the example above returned 2 years later asking to rejoin us. He was unhappy with his current manager. We gladly rehired him and he went on to have a successful career with us. Had I considered the six questions above before he left, I could have avoided losing him for those two years. Remember to keep a close relationship with your employees and understand what inspires them to work for you. In that way, you can ensure employee retention.
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